Chapter 7
Hello boys.
Riley and Jared turned to see a man in a full black suit looking smug at them. She felt her eyes widen slightly since she was getting a bad feeling about this. She didn't notice that Jared had narrowed his eyes and snorted in anger. And that was before he charged at the man shouting out a spell in juju.
The man in the suit watched with a bored expression before giving a swipe of his hand and pushed Jared back where he landed on the ground with a thump. He looked at them and said, "Seriously? You really think that juju would work on me? I'm the King around here."
Jared sat up with a glared and growled, "You're nothing but one of them. A demon."
"Big revelation from you, not Moose," the man said before studying Jared closer. He narrowed his eyes and then looked at Riley who managed to stand and was looking a little slack jawed at the whole thing. Finally he said, "You're not them."
"Not… who?" Riley frowned at the question as she eyed the man who was obviously a demon. And a powerful one at that.
"What year is it?" The man ignored the question and looked around at the place. He looked at the pair and shouted, "What bloody year is it?"
Riley jumped at that. She never liked being yelled at but what scared her worse was Jensen's quiet disapproval and right now he was on the ground, out cold… and still holding onto the chakram. She managed to get out, "2405."
The man looked at her like she was lying and then looked around. He looked like he was suspicious of the entire thing and was trying to see if he was being played. "No lies now."
"It's the truth you colossal ass hat," Jared retorted as he stood up, ready to strike. He pulled out his knife that had been crafted to kill a demon. It had been passed down in the family for years.
"Oh you have that pick poker," the man commented like it was nothing. "Like that will work on me. Moose learned that the hard way." He looked at Riley and studied her more. "The appearance is uncanny and just… remarkable." He looked around and closed his eyes. "Well I guess I am needed for a job."
Jared looked at Riley with a look and then looked at the man with a confused expression, "What use would we have for a demon? And a crossroads one at that?"
The man looked at Jared like he was an idiot. "I would ask my sweetheart, the one who sealed me in here. 'For your own protection.'" He used air quotes on the last sentence. "But wait, my sweetheart's not here and I'm stuck with a living incarnation of a gratuitous moron."
"Who are you calling a moron?" Jared glared at the man.
"I am," the man said. He gestured at himself, "The King of the Crossroads: Crowley."
"Crowley?" Riley raised her brow. She had tangled with common garden variety demons but most were not so… willing to talk. This was completely new territory to her. Suddenly she wished Jensen was there to take charge. He always seemed to know how to respond in a situation like this. Then again he would have been just as stunned as she was; he was just better at not showing it.
"Yes. King of Crossroads and from the looks of things… hell." Crowley looked around and then at the two standing hunters.
"What did you do to him?" Jared voiced angrily as he pointed at Jensen who was still on the ground.
Crowley looked at the body and made a face, "Great. It is hell. A look alike Moose." He paced a little bit as he studied them. They didn't look like they had a clue about things. "Nothing really. He just completed the spell that my sweetheart put me under."
"What spell?" Jared eyed Crowley warily, "And who is this sweetheart you're talking about?"
"A spell you moron," Crowley countered, "And my sweetheart is none other than the Malachi of Absolution."
It felt like getting a kick in the guts. Jared didn't react as much but Riley felt her eyes widen slightly. Absolution being this guy's sweetheart? It sounded like sacrilege to everything they had ever heard about Absolution. It just was surreal.
Crowley noticed the looks and gave a slight grin, "What? You didn't think she was all goody two shoes now, did you?" He chuckled, "Oh you really don't know about her. This is going to be fun. Almost worth being stuck here."
"You're wrong, Absolution would never work with the likes of you," Jared pointed out.
Crowley looked at him. "You have no clue what it was like you little bag of pus." His voice got a little heated as he continued, "Do you have any idea how complex this whole existence of yours really is?" He gestured all around him.
"All I know is that you're a demon that has been trapped here by a spell and probably by Absolution. More likely it was to give you your just desserts and we accidentally tripped it," Jared replied. He was taking a stab in the dark but that was usually the case when you hexed someone like that. It was a means to keep an eye on them until you found a way to kill them.
"And wrong. I see shooting first and asking questions later hasn't diluted in the line," Crowley snarked.
"What are you talking about?"
Crowley looked at the hunter like he was the stupidest person in the room. And in his opinion he was. He sighed since it was a chore to do and recited, "Only the descendant of the caster can break the spell and release one of the damned to stem the tide."
"Stem the tide?"
"Wait," Riley peered at Crowley, "You mean you're to fight against your kind?"
"More of a business arrangement actually and because I have a soft spot for my sweetheart," Crowley replied. "At least you got some brains."
"And you said a descendant of the caster?" Jared looked at Crowley with suspicion.
"Do I need to repeat myself? Moron!"
Jared growled a little at that. He knew the nature of spells. He was a fricking juju man after all and he knew the whole spiel about the cost of doing magic and all that hoopla. He spent his life learning his powers and how to be responsible with them. He had a little fun every now and then sure but for the most part, he used them for good. He looked around and said, "Fine. You're free so why aren't you leaving?"
"You really are stupid for a juju man aren't you?"
"Answer the question."
Crowley shot a dangerous look at Jared. He held up a warning finger, "Be careful there. Just because you're related to the Moose doesn't mean you get to show contempt." He looked at Riley and then paced again. "I am awake but I am not free. Only the descendant of the caster has the ability to set me free." He pointed at a door that was covered in sigils. "And mind you my sweetheart is very thorough."
"Then who is it?"
Crowley looked at Jared and said, "Definitely not you. I'm surprised your family has lasted as long as it has." He walked forward until he was within arm's reach of Jared and looked at him for a moment. "The brother of Moose certainly managed to spread his genes along. And to a Celtic/juju witch." He turned and walked away. "Haley was a spitfire and I'm surprised Dean didn't kill her."
Jared felt his throat convulse slightly. He knew the matriarch was named Haley but he never knew the hunter she had married. Now to have a name… "Dean?"
"Dean Winchester. Sold his soul in a crossroad deal to bring back not so little Moose to life," Crowley replied while looking at Jared. "A pain in the arse but knew how to get things done. Screwed up emptying the Colt into Lucifer though." He looked away in a thoughtful glance as he recalled that time.
"I'm a descendant of Dean Winchester?"
"That's right. So you wouldn't be the one to set me free."
Riley ventured, "Then…?"
Crowley looked at her, "Oh it's not you love." He gave a smirk at the look on her face. "You may be the spitting image of her but the closest you'll ever get to being her is much as what Moose was to Dean. Kid sibling."
By that time a moan from Jensen sounded and he started moving. Crowley looked at him and gave a slow smile. "Ah the heir apparent." He started on a slow approach. Now was the time to finish what had been started.
Riley snapped out of her sudden hurt to get a protective stance over her cousin. She barked out with a growl, "Don't you touch him you bastard!"
Bored, Crowley used his powers to swipe her to the side. He didn't care that she flew into and pile of crumbling furniture. The only thing that saved her was the couch cushions that billowed dust. "Please don't. We have a job to finish. So what do you say… Jensen?"
Jensen got to his feet slowly and spun around. He looked at Crowley with a smirk that the demon was very familiar with and replied, "Oh we have a job to finish. Just that you have to behave yourself… Crowley." He raised his brow in a knowing look.
Crowley was surprised at first but then his features slid into a grin. He nodded and replied, "Very clever, sweetheart."
"Sweetheart?" Jared looked at Jensen a little confused. He was certain the hunter didn't swing the other way. Also he was certain that Jensen would have flown into a rage about Riley who was getting to her feet and looking surprised that her cousin wasn't beating the crap out of the demon. Or at least trying.
"Stay back," Jensen replied as he straightened up and put the completed chakram on his belt with expert ease. He walked up towards Crowley to where a line had been painted in the ground that was not being noticed by the other two hunters. He looked at Crowley who was on the other side and stared with an impassive look. "I see you've been causing trouble."
"Not my doing. I've been sitting here rotting because of the spell you put on me!" Crowley glared at Jensen.
Jensen's reaction was to outstretch his hand. Immediately the sword flew into his waiting palm and he held it up in a position that could lop the demon's head off. He glared at the demon and said, "We had an agreement."
"It wasn't me! Don't be turning into those two morons you've traveled with causing chaos to an otherwise perfect world." Crowley looked at Jensen with an indignant glare.
"What the hell is going on?" Jared decided to try and get some semblance of order. He looked at Jensen, "Did you strike a deal with a demon?"
"Don't be stupid," Crowley answered as he looked at Jensen in the eye. "Jensen never made a deal. Too much of a bloody bleeding heart he is and insufferable know it all." He looked at Jensen who was smirking at him. "And you love hearing me talk about you."
"Such sweet things you say, Crowley," Jensen replied before removing the sword from its threatening position. He turned towards Jared and looked at him with a look of sadness. "It's been a long time."
"Okay now you're freaking me out. Who the hell are you?" Jared held up his hand to warn Jensen back. At this point he was certain that Jensen wasn't himself.
Jensen gave a slight sigh and then looked at Riley. This wasn't supposed to happen but it did. He replied, "The body is Jensen's but I'm Angela, the Malachi of Absolution."
The cabin had been burnt to the ground long ago. It had caused a forest fire that still baffled authorities. It still had fire marshals studying it and trying to figure out what made it react the way it did. Cullen Stevens was one such person since the circumstances behind it were very unusual. In all his years of battling forest fires, he had never heard of a brush fire that burned with so much control.
That was the strange thing. Only the area that housed the cabin was burned. Everything else wasn't burned. It was more controlled than the controlled fires firemen used to reduce the brush or even when they burned houses to train. Just that area and nothing else and it burnt itself out. It was one for the books.
Then there were the strange occurrences there. Kids who were messing around seeing to be funny came back scared like they saw a ghost. There were report of animals mauling hikers and they were not the animals that typically mauled people. That is they were pretty much the cute bunny type of animal. Then there were other strange occurrences like nice people suddenly going postal. The funny thing was that it was dispersed over months but no pattern, so most didn't think about it. But it attracted the conspiracy buffs and the believers in the crazy stuff and they kept coming. And the strange things kept happening.
Cullen parked his car and made to hike towards the spot. He flashed his light over the terrain and noted the graffiti on some of the remains of the cabin that had been moved away. He found trash debris and everything from previous rave parties that had been held there and gave a slight roll of his eyes. It didn't matter what the kids were told, they always came and they were drawn by the mysteriousness of the place.
Cullen looked around checking things out. He could admit that he was a buff himself but on the fire that happened. For years he had tried to simulate possible ways that the fire went down based upon accounts and the evidence reports but had little success. So on his vacations he came here to study them and try to get a little more information. He had gathered a little more of evidence each time he came there and he was hoping to get a little more.
Lately the strange things happening seemed to have been increasing. That also had him curious since he first thought that they were wild stories and speculation. He never had any experiences as had been reported and he wasn't anxious to have such an encounter. Still he was curious about why this place was the source of all the strange and crazy as well as the scary tales to keep unruly children in line. He looked around the bare ground.
The scorched earth hadn't healed after the fire. It made a perfect circle in the earth and nothing had decided to grow there. At least nothing that was consistent with the local vegetation of the forest valley. The only thing that was growing there were two plants that were unusual and Cullen spent time looking them up and it made sense why the neo witches were interested in the place.
On the perimeter laurel grew in a perfect circle. It ran perfectly on the edge of the burnt area. It was another anomaly that drew people to the place. It was a perfect ring and the ring was thick. Every time Cullen came there, he took care not to step on it. He stepped over it but with a reverence to it since he gave the ring a respectful look and even took a couple of samples to grow in his garden.
The other was mandrake. That definitely drew the Wiccans and neo witches. Cullen learned that mandrake was considered to have properties linked to witchcraft and the like. The interesting thing was that it was centered upon one thing, a structure that had survived the fire. Cullen always avoided it since he had a bad feeling about the structure. There was no reason he was going to go near it tonight.
He gave his brief reverence to the laurel before stepping over it and started towards the last place that he had been looking at. He shown his light over the ground and scowled when he saw the empty beer can. No doubt the kids were trying to make something happen since one rumor was that the circle bounced out whatever was thrown in like a force field or something like it. He immediately walked over and picked up the offending can and threw it out of the circle. He wasn't a believer in that witch stuff or anything that wasn't something he could see and touch but he learned to have respect for what other people considered sacred and his instincts led him to revere things that he perceived to be sacred in some fashion.
Once he had thrown out the can, he resumed his search for clues that the reports may have missed. He was doing a systematic search pattern and it had been accomplished over the span of years he had been on this project. He was on the northern end of the circle and working his way towards the center and the perimeter that he established to stay away from the structure that was in the center. He started moving away to head back towards the perimeter when all of a sudden something hit him.
Cullen rubbed the back of his head and turned to look for what hit him. He looked down and found the beer can. He narrowed his eyes and picked it up and threw it outside the ring. He didn't expect for it to come sailing back at him and hitting him full on in the head. He looked out and shouted, "Alright you've had your fun. Now come out you little punks!"
There was no response as Cullen looked around. All he could hear was the sound of the night. The crickets were exceptionally loud and there was a bit of hooting from an owl off in the distance. He looked around and found nothing. There was no sound of potential miscreants acting up and causing trouble. It had him suspicious since it wasn't an animal or anything like that.
Being cautious, he checked where he had packed his pistol in his coat. He had never gone anywhere there without it since he started on his project since there were other factors to consider like those punks that could cause trouble. And he didn't discount the wildlife there. Again he wasn't a believer but he wasn't one to throw caution to the wind.
After making sure that he had his weapon, he started on his search again after picking up the can and holding onto it. He got to the perimeter again and tossed it out and waited. Nothing happened and he figured that it was something else or they were pranksters and decided he was boring them. After all he was doing nothing more than a survey mission.
He walked towards the center when he felt a chill down his spine. There was a breeze and it was chilling. Cullen stopped and looked around. That was when he heard the whispers. It was like the wind was creating the whispers and it was like someone was standing right there beside him. He gasped as he twisted around in place to look for any signs of someone. There was no one.
Looking around Cullen swallowed while trying not to let fear strike him. That would be folly especially if he encountered something that was really there. He took a deep breath and told himself that it was nothing and continued his survey. The next time that happened, he was going to ignore everything that was happening to him. After all it would just be a figment of his imagination. So he continued with his survey, determined to get a couple of rounds done and then go home and spend time analyzing his data.
He made a pass to the perimeter without problems and turned to head back towards the center. It was then the whispers occurred again only this time louder. Cullen stopped and looked around. Something was definitely not right there. He was starting to get the feeling that he had overstayed his welcome. So he decided to leave.
He put away his scanner and started walking away from where he had been searching. He was not going to stay there a minute longer. He walked across the area and was prepared to step over the laurel when he was suddenly hurled off his feet. Cullen felt himself being dragged along the ground like someone had rigged a harness under his arms and was pulling him along the ground.
It was rough and he felt his body collide with something. At the moment though he was more concerned about what happened and the damage to his body. Grimacing he looked himself over and noted the tears in his over shirt. He winced when he felt a pain in his head. He reached up and pressed a finger to his forehead and winced. When he pulled his finger away there was blood. Great.
He started to stand and wobbled from the sudden dizziness upon getting vertical. He reached out to stabilize himself and touched something. He turned to look and found that he was near the structure that he had avoided ever since starting his project. He sighed and backed away a few steps. He was not going to stay there. He pivoted to head way.
He was met with resistance. He tried to force the issue and he was pulled back. He ended up in a seated position with his back against the structure. "Sonofabitch," he muttered upon feeling the pain in his back. That was going to bruise and he was going to have to answer questions when he reported into work tomorrow.
He stood up once more and was assaulted by the whispers. Cullen stopped what he was doing and looked around until his eyes lighted on the structure. He spotted what looked like an altar of sorts. It was covered with the mandrake and it seemed to have bits of laurel intertwined with it. The whispers then started to get louder and louder.
Cullen couldn't stand the sound and put his hands to his ears. "What the hell do you want?"
Your life.
Cullen turned towards the altar as the wind started to pick up. He saw the leaves on the laurel and mandrake ripple as he took a step back. It wasn't going to let him out of the area since he tried taking a step back and was pushed towards the altar. He knew that it was something that he didn't want to touch or get near it and resisted.
The wind increased and pushed him towards it but he resisted. He gritted his teeth as he tried to resist once more. All of a sudden he was flung forward and he landed hard on the altar, toppling it in the process. The structure collapsed under his weight but that didn't matter. Instead, Cullen found himself lifted into the air under the pulse of the wind and he still struggled under it.
While he was suspended a black cloud pulsed out of the shattered altar and flowed over the suspended man. Cullen looked at it wide eyed with fear as it seemed to hover over him before diving straight towards him. The last thing he could remember was that this was all a bad dream and he nearly cried out when the black cloud entered into his mouth.
The cloud shrank as it entered into the body. As it got smaller, the wind began to die down and the body was lowered to the ground. The body lay in the nest of laurel and mandrake with its eyes closed. Suddenly it took a deep breath like it was breathing in the morning air and it raised itself to a seated position, not opening its eyes. It then stood up in the middle of the plant bed. The body flexed its arms and hands, rotating them but still keeping its eyes closed.
The wind rustled just a little and a couple of shadows emerged. The body paused and shifted to look behind it. The shadows receded and the body grinned before slowly opening its eyes to reveal a set of eyes that were a mixture of reddish grey. They flickered before returning to the normal color of the body and it took a deep breath.
Sighing in satisfaction, the body looked around and noted the damage. It snorted in smug satisfaction and said, "So you thought to keep me imprisoned through the old way now?"
The shadows emerged and whispered and the body listened to them. It smiled in a grin that would have troubled most people as the shadows formed almost like an army behind him. He chuckled and looked up at the sky. "You won't hide from me. I am coming for you… Malachi of Absolution."
A/N: Crowley is out and WTH? Angie is in Jensen which looks like Sam? Memory lane methinks. And something bad is coming our way. Stay tuned for more of The Absolution Chronicles...
